New Mental Health Services On the Way - KDRV
Date: May 9, 2014
Medford is preparing to receive a major upgrade to its mental health services. The changes, set to take place over the course of the Summer, coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, which lasts through May.
A celebration of mental health awareness was held in Grants Pass Friday by the non-profit Kairos.
The organization, along with Jackson County Mental Health and several community partners, will be opening three mental health resources in Medford by the end of the summer. They’ll include a “hub” where young adults with intensive mental health issues can get immediate peer counseling, a home visit service for troubled youth, and a crisis center for kids having immediate psychotic episodes.
“There’s a lot of hope for what we’re doing in Southern Oregon, there’s a lot of innovation going on,” said Kairos CEO Bob Lieberman.
Kairos is also opening up a crisis center in Grants Pass.
Lieberman says those centers can save money for Jackson and Josephine counties by easing the burden on emergency rooms that are not equipped to handle mental crisis.